IKEA Blaliden - The new Detolf?

[user 67236]

 

[SwedishHeat]

Picked one of these up earlier today, and just finished putting it together.

One thing I noticed after putting it together, (that you probably won't notice in-store) the door is flush with the ground, meaning if you're putting it on carpet, you're going to get serious resistance trying to open the door. A riser is pretty much mandatory.

The specs on this note that the shelves are adjustable, but it's not quite as adjustable as you'd think, or as much as I thought it would be. This frame is metal, so there's only so many positions. It's got six sets of holes spaced about 7 inches apart. If you install all four shelves, you've got about 15 inches of clearance between each shelf, so most 1/6 scale figures should fit. I guess it's more adjustable than a DETOLF, which had no options, but with other wood bookcases usually you have holes every inch or so. With the BLALIDEN, if you adjust something up, you're going to give up 7 inches of space, you're probably going to lose out on another shelf, unless you put your Yodas, Kuills, and Rockets on one of the shelves.

I bought it for my LEGO Lighthouse since it's super tall, and since the shelves are 11" wide and most LEGO baseplates are 10 inches, it seemed like the smart play. For my purposes, it's just the right size.

It's not quite dustproof, since there is a bit of a gap around the door, but it's more dustproof than the DETOLF, which had gaps on all sides. This one, I think, was designed to solve some of the problems with the DETOLF, in terms of stability and functionality. It does have holes built into the frame for cable management, so that makes things easy, I remember running cables into a DETOLF was a bit clunky, but the frame on the BLALIDEN has a bit of clearance built in for a puck light in the top cover, or LED strips running down the inside of the frame.

I think the BLALIDEN feels more like a display case for a retail store, rather than a piece of furniture. I'm partial to wood furniture, and the metal construction of this one doesn't quite fit my decor, but I've looked at a ton of options, and as usual, IKEA can't be beat for price and functionality.

Overall, I think if the DETOLF does end up going away, the BLALIDEN will work for most folks. It's not quite as tall, but it's feels more stable.

Just remember you're going to need to buy something to raise it up. So, I guess in that sense, at $100 for one of these, plus $20-$30 for a riser, you're not really saving any money over a $130 DETOLF.

 

[Mondragon]

If you install all four shelves, you've got about 15 inches of clearance between each shelf, so most 1/6 scale figures should fit.

Curious about the Blaliden shelf height, if the shelves are all spaced evenly, which one is it:
use67236 vid says 13" (if I'm reading it right?)
Swedishheat says "about 15"
Curious cause the Batman Armory is about 14.5" and wondering if it could be displayed, maintaining the same clearance for all shelves.

Thanks for any info.